Introduction
Description
The climate change that followed the final retreat of the glaciers led to a migration of human groups to the mountains. Initially (until about 5,500 years ago) these were hunters who followed the movement of wildlife from the plains to the mountains. Later, however, the movements took place from central Europe via the great rivers and facilitated by the easy transitability of the Alpine passes. The anthropic settlement that left the Vollein necropolis probably dates back to this second phase.
The necropolis, identified in 1968 near the village of the same name, is located in the most depressed sector of the mounded ridge partially still covered by glacial deposits, and covers a sub-rectangular area of 20 x 30 m.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered 66 cist tombs, i.e. in the form of a stone box protruding from the ground, consisting of four upright slabs and a covering slab overhanging the sides of the tomb. The floor of the tomb consisted of the ground itself.
The necropolis cannot be visited at the moment
The climatic change following the final retreat of the glaciers led to a migration of human groups towards the mountains. Initially (until about 5,500 years ago) these were hunters who followed the movements of wildlife from the plains to the mountains. Later, however, the movements took place from central Europe via the great rivers and facilitated by the easy transitability of the Alpine passes. The anthropic settlement that left the Vollein necropolis probably dates back to this second phase.
The necropolis, identified in 1968 near the village of the same name, is located in the most depressed sector of the mounded ridge partially still covered by glacial deposits, and covers a sub-rectangular area of 20 x 30 m.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered 66 cist tombs, i.e. in the form of a stone box protruding from the ground, consisting of four upright slabs and a covering slab overhanging the sides of the tomb. The floor of the tomb consisted of the ground itself.
The tombs, emerging from the ground, therefore remained accessible even after burial: in fact, cases of multiple depositions are frequent. Inside the grave, the skeletons lay in a crouched position on the left side and with their heads to the south or south-west. In addition to the graves intended for adults, which vary in size, there are a number of small infant burials reaching a minimum length of 40 cm. The grave goods are rare and consist exclusively of ornamental bracelets of fossil shell. Further studies have shown that in Vollein there was a shift from the practice of inhumation to that of incineration: the graves are in fact covered by a layer of ash.
However, the discovery of fragments of lithic industry and ceramics attributable to late Neolithic periods makes it possible to relate the Vollein necropolis to the southern, Cisalpine aspect of the Chamblandes-type necropolis in the neighbouring Swiss territory and dating from around the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC.
Despite the fact that the necropolis stands in a more protected position with respect to the large deformation of the slope, the presence of collapsed ravines within it, closed by anthropogenic accumulations, makes it possible to ascertain that the activity of the deep gravitational depression partly affected the site and persisted even after its construction.
AAVV., 1998 - Quart Spazio e tempo, Musumeci Editore, 278 pp.
Giardino M., 1995- Surface deformations in the middle Valle d'Aosta. Doctoral thesis. University Consortium Turin, Genoa, Cagliari. 176pp.
Mezzena F., 1982- Ricerche storiche e protostoriche in Valle d'Aosta. Risultati e prospettive, in Atti del Congresso sul Bimillenario della città di Aosta, Bordighera, pp. 157-172.
Mezzena F., Poggiani Keller R., Venturino Gambari M, 1995.- Guide Archeologiche, Preistoria e Protostoria, Lombardia occidentale, Piemonte e Valle d'Aosta, Vol. 8, A.B.A.C.O. Edizioni.
Società Geologica Italiana, 1992 - Alpi dal Monte Bianco al Lago Maggiore. Guide Geol. Reg.,No. 3,Vol. 1, BE - MA Ed., 311 pp.
